There are many ways that a workplace can be disconnected, leading to inefficiency. A business that tends to overlook the importance of communication in the workplace is most likely unsuccessful. In order to maintain a stable work environment, coworkers must communicate effectively! This means that those who cannot function as a part of a team will prove detrimental. This skill is especially important nowadays where technology consumes most of our time in the office. Social skills continue to be taken for granted as we find less need for them; however, this should be enough to want to enhance this decreasingly prominent ability.

Listening

Listening skills are potentially the hardest to come by in terms of communication skills. This skill requires one to allow another to speak without interruption. Also, while they are speaking, be sure to genuinely pay attention to what they are saying. Do not think of what you are going to say when they are done. This distracts you from getting all of the information from what they said. If you’re lucky, you may be able to catch the gist of what they are saying.

Confidence

Another skill that is hard to come by is confidence when speaking. There is a fine line between confidence and condescension. You must be comfortable with who you are and project that confidence onto others. Do not brag, but do not self-deprecate. A confident person will have little to no problem communicating with others. Confidence typically comes from a lack of concern towards if others do not agree with their character. This skill is very beneficial, as you must be able to do things that make you uncomfortable if you wish to develop as an employee.

Legitimate confidence brings with it a confident tone. A confident tone is simply a means of suggesting that you are sure of yourself and you are a reliable and capable worker. Once more, avoid sounding arrogant. It is one thing to be confident in what you’re saying if you are sure you are correct. It is another thing to ensure others you are right when you are unsure. This is simply stubbornness rather than intelligence. Arrogant people are not particularly smiled upon and tend to create conflict in the workplace.

Kindness-getting along with others

Many workplaces may experience some form of conflict between two or more employees. This needless rivalry will lead to an array of internal problems. This will do nothing but hinder efficiency in the workplace. Therefore, kindness is a skill that an employee must have if they wish to maintain their success as an employee, or else reap the consequences

It is important to note that remaining friendly, even on days that are not going too well, is a skill that employees must learn to have if they wish to grow. Just because your day is rough, it does not mean you can take it out on others. Think about it this way: everyone has bad days. What makes you special that you are allowed to take it out on others, while they keep it to themselves, or at least outside of the workplace? This will have people thinking about you in a negative fashion. You will be recognized as a negative person who always complains. Being isolated like this cannot lead to anything beneficial for the business.

Feedback-back and forth communication

It is important that after listening to someone, you provide your input to the conversation. For example, if someone tells you that there is something troubling them. You can either offer a solution, or at least try and come up with something else that may suffice. This way they will know that you were listening. Not only that, they will know that you genuinely care about what they are saying.

These feelings will reciprocate; therefore, they will then respect what you have to say as well. If all you offer to the conversation is “yeah” or “uh-huh”, then you will seem distracted and not actually paying attention. Contributing to the conversation shows respect and a want to better the business.

Here at the Rostie Group, we’re always looking to improve your experience. To that end, we have been working on something that is a long time coming.

A major updated to our reservation portal has made it better than ever before!

We have focused on eliminating the tiresome negotiation process of booking meeting rooms and streamlining the process to be as smooth as possible for our users.

As you can see below, the Rostie Group’s booking portal lets you see all of our available rooms as you book them.

If you’ve booked with us before, you can easily rebook meetings with a single click! This allows your layout, catering and other requests to remain the same as the last time you booked.

Whether you are using desktop, tablet or your phone we wanted you to have the best experience, so we redesigned the layout to be mobile ready no matter what screen you’re on.

If you are a new user, you’ll see how easy it is to view the catering menu and choose an option suited to your needs. Depending on the room size, you will also be able to view the meeting rooms various custom layouts and choose one that best fits your meeting requirements.

We understand that getting used to any new piece of software can be challenging. Not to worry, we will soon have an online tutorial added to our website to guide you through it and show just how easy it is!

What do you think of when you think of a board meeting?

Unlike modern facilities, I’m willing to bet the first things that come to mind are dark rooms, thick carpeting, leather chairs, the smell of old wood, and dust. Well, that may have been fine in 1956, but just as the workplaces look different in 2018, your meetings should too.

At the Rostie Group, we have Modern Meeting Rooms that are guaranteed to permanently change your perception of a board meeting. Our rooms come equipped with large windows to maximize natural light, and modern, ergonomic furniture that has been sustainably produced, in factories that guarantee good working conditions for their workers. Because unlike in the era that saw ‘traditional meetings’, that matters today.

It’s 2018- your meeting should either be paperless or it should have as little paper as possible. Deforestation is a global issue- leave that enormous paper trail where you left the old dusty furniture- firmly back in 1956. A modern meeting room needs to be equipped with a wide range of audio-visual options- screens, speakers, dedicated wi-fi, and outlets; leave paper behind.

Your comfort, and your guests’ comfort deeply impacts how successful your meeting is; and a modern meeting room experience is carefully tailored to maximize your meeting’s success. We worry about all of the additional details, like state of the art A/V equipment and sustainably produced furniture- all so you can focus on what’s really at stake- the success of your meeting.

Disrupt your preconceived notions of what a meeting is at the Rostie Group. You wouldn’t stay at a hotel that was last updated 40 years ago, so why would you hold a meeting there? It doesn’t make sense to embrace the past in a business environment that is as fast-paced and forward-looking as Toronto’s – go with the Rostie Group and understand what a modern meeting room experience really is .

The class’ focus is one of the most important aspects when running a session with an audience. Just as any seasoned professor can tell you, it can be difficult to get the attention you need. In a way, that’s really up to the class members; they paid for the course. If they choose not to pay attention, then that’s their choice. However, that isn’t exactly conducive to the long term feasibility of a course. If the class attendees feel like they got nothing from the session, and if they feel their time was wasted, they’ll share that, and your class will suffer.

It also has to be decked out with the best tech. You carry your class with you; presentations, materials, etc. Nothing could be worse than entering a room and start to setup for your session, and the screen is of poor quality (or non-existent), There are no plugs for laptops, or everyone has to huddle somewhere to see and hear your presentation. It just hurts the overall focus in the room, leading to an inferior experience.

With The Rostie Group, you will always have the best class experience. Our rooms have multiple screens and full video conference available, so you can run your session from anywhere in the world! We can accommodate any group size. But if you need more space, our rooms can be linked by video, the next best thing to being in two places at once!

Take a look at our room selection, and choose the best fit to make your class a success!jvieir

It’s a fact of life (or a fact of business) that you’ll eventually have to have meetings. One-on-One, group meetings, team meetings, etc. You name them, they’ll have to meet at some point. Have you considered renting that meeting space?

So when you’re finding a space for those meetings to occur, it is often a corner of the office somewhere, where everyone has to bring their chairs and scoot over. Just making what might already be an uncomfortable space, even more so.

Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones that has their own proper meeting space. But of course, owning space is very different from renting it.

For one, you have to maintain it. It can be costly to maintain a meeting room up to standard. Of course when it’s just your team, a little mess can be expected; some markers laying around, a used whiteboard, some leftover snacks.

But then if you want to bring a new client into that space, you’ll have to make sure it’s all clean and tidy. And your staff, as great as they may be, are busy making sure the business runs. They don’t have time to clean up every speck of dirt. Which then means you need to hire a cleaning crew, or extend the current crew’s service into the meeting room. But that brings potential reservations over confidential information…

And that isn’t even mentioning the cost of maintenance. What if the chairs break? Or the meeting table is damaged? The TV on the wall starts displaying static?

It’s just a whole cycle of never ending issues.

And of course, think about the opportunity cost. Space is expensive, especially in large cities. You already pay a significant amount for rent, and having enough space for your employees to actually do their job, do you really want to have to worry about paying rent for a room that will be sitting empty most of the time?

For those who are looking to cut some costs on their rent, and have a top notch, clean, and well stocked room, you should consider renting your meeting space from The Rostie Group. Free Wi-Fi, full technical support, videoconferencing, and delicious catering are all available.

Enjoy this month’s Scoop and learn about exciting events happening around Toronto’s Waterfront. If you would like to advertise in our growing newsletter we are always happy to showcase local companies and community partners. For more information on advertising, email marketing@rostiegroup.com

Back in September 2017, Oxford Properties conducted a customer satisfaction and loyalty survey. Many clients took the time to let Oxford know whether they were meeting or exceeding service expectations. To celebrate the fantastic results Oxford have created a visual representation of this commitment via “The Oxford Way” video:

More that 10 million meetings occur every day in the United States alone, so there’s no denying that meetings are a very important part of the corporate world. But despite that, a lot of people do meetings wrong and end up losing money through lost productivity or even worse, unclear goals.

Be prepared

It’s always a good idea to let people know the overall details of the meeting but it’s also important to provide relevant documents or information that would help everyone come to your meeting prepared. Sometimes a meeting might require research and for your attendees to have some time to gather their thoughts and ideas. It also cuts down on time spent running people through information that everyone could already be aware of.

Know your objective

The biggest mistake people make when calling a meeting is having a poor agenda or not having one at all. Without a good agenda or a facilitator to keep things on track people can go off topic and not add anything of value to the meeting at all. This becomes one of the major reasons why people consider meetings a waste of time.

Make the objective of the meeting clear before you start. That way people are able to come prepared and know what’s necessary to make it successful. With the material you’ve given your attendees, having a clear objective will also allow them to come into the meeting with any concerns they may have going forward, which can be answered easier.

Invite the right people

Cramming the room with as many people as possible doesn’t always accomplish the best results. The more people you have, the more likely it is that people are going to take the meeting in the wrong direction, be afraid to contribute or feel like they can afford not to pay attention. You might also be keeping a lot of people from doing important work that will end up costing you time and money in lost productivity.

Instead it’s about getting the right people who can contribute the best to your objective. These are the people who are most relevant to the problem at hand, whether they’re working on the front lines or overseeing the team that will be solving a problem. Having the right parties present also lets you communicate more clearly with the right team and ensure that they’re on the right track.

Provide key takeaways

It’s all too easy for people to come out of a meeting and go about their day without actually putting anything they’ve learned to use. This comes down to the facilitators. At the end of the meeting, provide your attendees with some key takeaways and goals. Clear tasks help give a purpose to your meeting and people can leave it with something tangible to take back to their desks.

You can also have someone tasked with taking notes during the meeting and putting together a contact report to send out after. This way all attendees have a written record of what needs to get done. This can also be used to track progress for future meetings.

Ineffective meetings can kill productivity and be a waste of time. But with the tips listed above, you can make sure your team can make the most of their time and tackle goals with more direction.

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https://www.rostie.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/TorontoBay1-495x400.jpg400495rostiegrouphttps://www.rostie.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Rostie_Associate_Logo_Large_forscreen-1426x630.pngrostiegroup2017-08-01 14:40:062018-10-12 10:15:39How to Run More Effective Meetings